Economics of pineapple production in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study analyzed the economics of pineapple production in Awgu Local Government Area (LGA) of Enugu State, Nigeria. Data for the study were collected from 50 respondents from Amoli and Ihe communities of the LGA through a simple random sampling technique. The communities were purposively selected because they contain higher concentration of pineapple farmers. Primary data were collected using interview schedule administered to the respondents. Data were realized with descriptive statistics, enterprise budgeting techniques and multiple regression analysis. The study revealed that (36%) of the farmers had farming experience of 1 to 10 years’ experience in pineapple production, indicating that new farmers entered the crop’s production sector within the last decade. The enterprise proved profitable with farmers’ net return on investment value of 1.7. Farm size, cost of input, level of education and household size significantly determined net farm income. It was further revealed that poor access road and high transportation cost were the main constraints of the pineapple producers. The study concluded that profitable production opportunities exist on the crop. The study recommends that extension agencies should encourage more new farmers to exploit pineapple production potentials while encouraging its existing farmers to scale up production through farm size increment, reinvestment of their gains and production knowledge increase.